Annika's Update

Posted on Thu Sep 21st, 2023 @ 6:22pm by Captain Ryhl th'Zeles & Ensign Annika Wiseman
Edited on on Thu Sep 21st, 2023 @ 6:33pm

1,455 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: Deck One, Bridge
Timeline: MD (C3) 0542 hours

=/\= On =/\=

==Sickbay Temporary Quarters==
Annika looked at the steam covered mirror, she'd tossed the filthy uniform in the corner earlier, managed to grab a shower and a clean uniform, she knew without question there was about to he major fallout, she'd allowed a fellow officer to be hurt in the line of duty, she looked at herself in the intel grey for the first time, now she had no choice, her boss was on the shelf and lives were on the line. The dark grey division color and blacked out rank pips, her hair pulled back and tied into a ponytail added to the mystique, she picked up a pad and walked out of her quarters, she marched with purpose back to sick bay, this wasn't going to go unanswered.

Annika entered main sickbay like an unwanted phantom and began to look around, they had managed to clean up the mess from earlier, this didn't change her feelings.

Lissa approached Annika quietly, the two had become friends, hanging out often over the last few months. "Hey Annika. Commander Elliot is doing fine. He's stable, but resting a lot still," she said keeping her voice low. "You doing ok?"

Annika looked at Jason, "I know he's alive, he warned me of the risks with this job, I'm not about to let him down."

"What do you mean?" Lissa asked. "Why would you think that you would?"

She turned to look at Lissa "I panicked, I'm going to make sure he's caught before others get hurt."

"Whose caught? What happened? Did you talk to the Captain?" Lissa asked the questions in rapid fire succession. "You aren't thinking of doing this alone, are you?"

"The Lieutenant and I were following up on some reports of some stuff going on planet side, we needed to follow up one report and we found something." Annika said

"Whatever it is, its clearly dangerous," Lissa responded wide-eyed. "What's your plan? I assume the Captain won't let anyone go down without proper security. You need to be careful," Lissa said, genuine worry for her friend on her face.

Annika turned to her friend, "I don't know."

Lissa looked at her for a long moment. "Talk to the Captain. He'll know what to do." She was still keeping her voice low to keep the rest of Sickbay from overhearing them.

Annika turned to Lissa, "That's the next move for me to begin with." she looked back at Jason "He told me that if things went bad to finish the mission."

"What have you gotten into Annika?" Lissa asked gravely.

"Someone is sabotaging that colony, and they tried to silence us in the process." Annika said "There's something called the last orders I'm supposed to find, but I have no clue what that is."

"I wouldn't know where to start," Lissa shook her head. "I wish I could help. Can I help?" Lissa asked, unsure of what to do.

"After I talk with the captain, let's search the intel office." Annika said.

"You got it," Lissa said nodding.

Before Annika turned to run she said "Forty minutes, deck eight."

Lissa slipped away from her conversation from Annika and went to Jason's room to check his progress once more before returning to her other duties. She kept one ear open to the Captain's conversation.

[Bridge]

Ryhl stood in front of the window located at the fore of the ship, past the viewscreen which hung vertically in front of the conn. His ears and antennae monitored the action on the bridge. Everything was as routine as it could be now.

The Captain couldn't help but ponder the events of the past day. A Romulan starfighter had exploded. His top Intel officer had been seriously wounded. Settlements across the planet were experiencing a rash of problems.

Captain th'Zeles was worried, staring at the planet as the ship orbited quietly. He still awaited an update on Jason as he tried to calm his breathing and steady his nerves.

The dull hum of the turbolift felt like it was going for ever, it was her first time to the bridge, actually it was her first time on any ships bridge, as the lift slowed and then stopped, Annika felt her heart beating slightly faster, she stepped slowly out onto the bridge for the very first time, she took a second to absorb the new environment, she saw the captain clearly staring at the main viewer, she slowly but still with purpose made her way to the captain, her smaller frame was dwarfed by the captain. "If you have a moment captain..."

The captain turned as he heard the doors open. He was filled with emotion as soon as he saw Annika Wiseman and her teal collar. He had to walk part of the way to meet her on the massive bridge. "Of course", he said. "How is Jason", Ryhl asked, accidentally using the officer's first name.

"Lieutenant Elliot is stable, between the blood loss and internal injuries it's going to be a very touch and go two days for him, maybe longer." Annika said reverting to nurse mode one final time "Sir what are final orders?"

He looked relieved upon mention of Lt. Elliot's condition. "Security is conducting a thorough investigation. A Romulan Commander named Kekana has agreed to hand over a roster of her citizens. I'd like you to run it through the Intel database.. See if any names pull up anything interesting."

Ryhl took a step closer, flaxen-gold eyes looking into hers with sincerity. "I'm glad you're okay. Tell me.. Did you see anyone or anything? Any clues?"

Annika snapped into the moment, "The body cams have all the footage, mine will verify the weapons use, and hopefully the Lieutenants' will have something to go on." she paused "The assailant dropped the knife near the edge of the woods he ran into, if we find that we might find more information."

"Security should be going over this area as we speak", the Captain said. He started to appear visibly angry and lost in thought. Now that Jason was stable, thoughts had turned more towards retribution. "Commander Chalan and I will need to be kept updated. I'd like a meeting, where we can go over everything... Hopefully plan the next step together."

Ryhl's frustration turned into a weak smile as he glanced over Annika's facial features. "I know you didn't ask to be thrust into this Intel role... But you're doing just fine", he said with a nod of confidence. "I'm glad you're alright." The realization of Annika's ascension into the Intelligence role was magnified by her donning of the iconic "gray shirt".

Annika felt slightly better, "One other thing, I'd like to follow up on some Romulan Freighter captain that intelligence used for some activities, Lieutenant Elliot said he might be operating out of the planet some how."

"A contact, hmm? Keep me informed. They might be able to connect us to what's really been going on here. If there's nothing else, you're dismissed. We'll stay in contact though." Ryhl also felt a little better after speaking with Annika.

"I'll follow up and report back shortly sir." Annika said as she readied to leave.

"Very well", Ryhl said as he moved to join her. They took the long walk towards the exit of the bridge. He gave Annika a look of understanding, knowing she would likely put herself at risk to meet this contact. "Stay safe." Other officers monitored their stations, many aware of Annika's proximity to Jason as an Intel officer.

The officers exchanged one final glance before parting.

As she left, Ryhl sighed and folded his hands behind his back. He worried about Annika potentially meeting this contact with no support. The Captain decided he would follow her life sign from the bridge and beam down if anything went wrong. Planning to do this, potentially circumventing measures she might take to be tracked, allowed his mind to escape worrying about her.

He would make sure she had eyes watching from above.

Captain th'Zeles had already asked Starfleet for immediate reinforcements to the ship's Intelligence Department. The USS Mendocino, a newly christened California class starship, was on the way with a handful of gray shirts. The ship was assigned as a logistics vessel in support of the Columbia. Several other needed officers joined them in transit.

Ryhl moved to a nearby Operations console and began calibrating its controls, screens and readouts from scratch. He added elements from the Science and Intel stations, using years of programming experience as a former Engineer to tailor the auxiliary station to his liking.

After setting up the station and handling the morning business on the bridge, Ryhl would head to Sickbay.

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